Monday, January 28, 2008

Israel Apologises

Let's not start a debate about what Israel might or might not need to apologise for... But given the State's controversial role on the world stage, there's more than a little surreality in this:

Israel is to apologise formally to the surviving members of the Beatles for cancelling a 1965 concert by the band.The country plans to deliver letters of apology to the two surviving members of the group and relatives of the deceased members for cancelling the concert back in the group's heyday.The reason given at the time was because the Israeli government could not afford to host the world-famous band.But other sources suggest Israel was concerned it would not be able to cope with Beatle-mania and feared that it might corrupt the minds of Israeli fans."We would like to take this opportunity to rectify a historic missed opportunity which unfortunately took place in 1965 when you were invited to Israel," the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted the letter as saying."Unfortunately the state of Israel cancelled your performance in the country due to lack of budget and because several politicians in the Knesset had believed at the time that your performance might corrupt the minds of the Israeli youth."Israel's ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor was due to meet Julia Baird, the sister of the late John Lennon, on Monday during a visit to Liverpool.He was expected to use the occasion to invite the surviving members to play at Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May this year, Yediot said.Other copies of the letter would go out to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and the relatives of the late George Harrison.